Nigeria records 393 cyberattacks in 6 months

17 Nov Nigeria records 393 cyberattacks in 6 months

National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno, says Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya recorded over two million phishing cyberattacks in the first half of 2021.

He said 393 cases of those cyberattacks were attributed to Nigeria, representing a 13 per cent decline as compared to the same period in 2020.

Monguno spoke in Lagos on Tuesday at a sensitisation workshop for the implementation of the ‘National Cybersecurity Policy and Strategy 2021’ for the private sector and professional bodies.

Monguno, represented by Director of Communications, ONSA, Brig.-Gen. Samad Akesode, said the figure was based on a survey recently conducted by a Bucharest-based “Kaspersky Laboratory’’ in Romania.

he said: “This calls for more proactive measures to protect our exponentially growing internet users in Nigeria.

“It also demonstrates the criticality of the private sector and the need to enhance our defence mechanism and collaborate towards securing our cyberspace for improved productivity and efficiency.

“The key enablers here can be said to be the development of homegrown solutions, capacity building and more attention to research and development,’’ he said.

Monguno said a British security software and hardware company in a survey of 65 Nigerian companies revealed that 86 per cent of Nigerian companies fell prey to cyber attacks in 2020.

”This is second highest percentage recorded globally after India and much higher than in South Africa with 64%.

“This means that about 56 out of 65 companies fell prey to various forms of cyber-attacks such as malware, ransomware and data leaks over the past year.’’ (NAN)